Saturday, April 13, 2013

Giant and Deadly Spider Discovered in Sri Lanka : For some, Poecilotheria rajaei, a giant tarantula discovered recently in Sri Lanka, is the stuff of nightmares. It's huge, fast, venomous and the size of a human face.

But for wildlife advocates, the spider might represent another cause for conservation: The tree-dwelling spider is threatened by habitat destruction.

"They are quite rare," Ranil Nanayakkara, co-founder of the Sri Lankan organization Biodiversity Education and Research, told Wired. "They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings."

The scientists suspected the dead arachnid was a previously unknown type and confirmed the theory after setting off to find its living relatives.

‘Days of extensive searching in every tree hole and bark peel were rewarded with a female and, to our satisfaction, several juveniles too,’ said researcher Ranil Nanayakkara.

The tarantulas – part of the tiger spider genus – have distinctive markings including daffodil-yellow colouring on their legs and a pink band around their stomachs.

Habitat encroachment could mean the spider comes into more regular contact with humans. A dead specimen of Poecilotheria rajaei was found by a villager in 2009, and live spiders were recently discovered in an old hospital, among other places, Wired notes.

Deforestation is one of Sri Lanka's chief environmental concerns. According to a 2009 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about 80 percent of Sri Lanka was once covered by closed canopy natural forest. By 1994, forest cover had decreased to 24 percent. The report linked deforestation to reduction of the island nation's biodiversity, among other issues.

Although some experts would like to conduct DNA sampling to determine whether the giant tarantula is in fact a new species, taxonomical evidence strongly suggests that it is a member of the genus Poecilotheria.

Poecilotheria are tree-dwelling tarantulas that known for their bright coloring and potent venom.

In 2010, biophysicists at the University of Buffalo identified a protein in tarantula venom that showed promise as a possible treatment for muscular dystrophy.

According to National Geographic, the goliath birdeater tarantula of South America may be the largest spider in the world, with a leg-span that can reach up to a foot in diameter.

Resurrecting Extinct Animals : Scientists predict that within 15 years they will be able to revive some more recently extinct species, such as the dodo or the passenger pigeon, raising the question of whether or not they should – just because they can. In the April 5 issue of Science, Stanford law Professor Hank Greely identifies the ethical landmines of this new concept of de-extinction. "I view this piece as the first framing of the issues," said Greely, director of the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences. "I don't think it's the end of the story, rather I think it's the start of a discussion about how we should deal with de-extinction." In "What If Extinction Is Not Forever?" Greely lays out potential benefits of de-extinction, from creating new scientific knowledge to restoring lost ecosystems. But the biggest benefit, Greely believes, is the "wonder" factor. "It would certainly be cool to see a living saber-toothed cat," Greely said. "'Wonder' may not seem like a substantive benefit, but a lot of science – such as the Mars rover – is done because of it." Greely became interested in the ethics of de-extinction in 1999 when one of his students wrote a paper on the implications of bringing back wooly mammoths. "He didn't have his science right – which wasn't his fault because approaches on how to do this have changed in the last 13 years – but it made me realize this was a really interesting topic," Greely said. Scientists are currently working on three different approaches to restore lost plants and animals. In cloning, scientists use genetic material from the extinct species to create an exact modern copy. Selective breeding tries to give a closely-related modern species the characteristics of its extinct relative. With genetic engineering, the DNA of a modern species is edited until it closely matches the extinct species.

All of these techniques would bring back only the physical animal or plant.Many newly revived species could cause unexpected problems if brought into the modern world. A reintroduced species could become a carrier for a deadly disease or an unintentional threat to a nearby ecosystem, Greely says. "It's a little odd to consider these things 'alien' species because they were here before we were," he said. "But the 'here' they were in is very different than it is now. They could turn out to be pests in this new environment." When asked whether government policies are keeping up with the new threat, Greely answers "no." "But that's neither surprising nor particularly concerning," he said. "It will be a while before any revised species is going to be present and able to be released into the environment." Greely and Sherkow recommend that the government leave de-extinction research to private companies and focus on drafting new regulations. Sherkow says the biggest legal and ethical challenge of de-extinction concerns our own long-lost ancestors. "Bringing back a hominid raises the question, 'Is it a person?' If we bring back a mammoth or pigeon, there's a very good existing ethical and legal framework for how to treat research animals. We don't have very good ethical considerations of creating and keeping a person in a lab," said Sherkow. "That's a far cry from the type of de-extinction programs going on now, but it highlights the slippery slope problem that ethicists are famous for considering."

Robot in a Suit : The formerly headless "Petman" anthropomorphic robot has gained both a cranium and a new suit! The creators of the eerily beast-like BigDog robot have shown off a new creation on video.

Boston Dynamics created Petman not to be a helper on the battlefield, like BigDog, but to work in the lab, testing protective clothing. Once the robot is outfitted with the latest hazardous materials suit or flak jacket, it can then walk, crouch, jump and generally move realistically, giving the new duds a good workout.

But why use a robot at all? Why not a lab assistant? Because the tests may include exposure to chemical warfare agents. No one but a robot is going to sign up to be be sprayed with nerve gas, especially in new, unproven gear.

In order to better simulate a human inside the suit, Petman actually produces sweat and heat, and is equipped with temperature and chemical sensors so that it can tell if a normal human would have passed out or keeled over.

Petman was created with funds from the Defense Department's Chemical and Biological Defense program. You won't see one walking the streets any time soon (as good as it might look doing it) — but keep an eye out for the Atlas robot, also built by Boston Dynamics, and meant to navigate actual terrain. It should be showing up on video later this year.

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